


Dangan Manor

by ThatCrazyShipper



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:36:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9134293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatCrazyShipper/pseuds/ThatCrazyShipper





	1. A Time Before A When

This is a story of talent. Talented people who were manipulated by a force only one great talent, mastered by few, can overcome. Despair. This is a story of despair. Despair and a raging battle against hope. The hope of talent. The hope of us. And, this story starts on my first day of school.

Of course, I was late. I don’t mean to say that I don’t care about school (I am a good student, I swear), it’s just my bed is cosy. And warm. And goddamnit, I’m lazy, okay? Sue me. Though, today was different from any other day. Today was my first day at Raund’s Peak Academy (a.k.a. Manor School), and I tried my hardest not to be late. I swear!

Manor School was known for creating some of the most talented students the country had to offer. Though, they did accept perfectly normal students, so that explained why I was accepted. Yet, I was still terrified to go there when I knew that some of my classmates would be so talented. In the streets of Raunds, we call them “Ultimates”. It’s pretty easy to spot an Ultimate, even from a young age. A few people from my primary school would definitely fit into that category.

Although, for such a prestigious school, they still accepted me, so I’m not going to let that opportunity go to waste.

For an extremely un-athletic, lazy person, the speed at which I managed to run from my mum’s car that morning was amazing. I don’t know how I did it. Maybe that’s what led me to my downfall – literally. Running into those school gates, I somehow managed to trip on thin air and – THUNK. I landed face first on the ground. Everything around me went black, but I was too embarrassed to even try and get up. Maybe if I just sleep…


	2. Trigger Happy Havoc

“Ow, fuck!” I shouted as I shot up from where I was hunched over and hit my head against something beside me. My vision was blurred, but when I regained full consciousness, I saw that I was locked in a cubicle of some kind. Everywhere around me was white and cold. Almost a ghost-like serenity. I looked down and – yep, that’s a toilet. Okay, maybe not so serene after all.

Eventually, I mustered the strength to stand up and open the cubicle door. Unlocked. Huh. It’s not like me to go to the bathroom and not lock the door. Then again, it’s not like me to pass out in random places. An uneasy aura settled around me; something wasn’t right here, and I could tell. I took a cautious step out of the cubicle and saw a set of mirrors in front of me. God, have I always looked like this? I pondered. Something was definitely off here. I just couldn’t remember what.

“Erin?!” I heard a shrill behind me. I turned around, and let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding when I saw an old childhood friend of mine, Carly Palmer.

“Carly, oh, my God!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were coming to Manor, too!”

“Yeah, neither did I! But things didn’t work out in my old school, so here I am!” She said, beaming. I’m glad she was feeling so at ease – that definitely helped to put my mind at rest. Yet, there was still a moment of discomfort shared between us. I wonder if she woke up in the toilet, too? No, that’s absurd.

“So, we should probably find out where we have to go, right?” I said, suddenly realising that I’m probably really late now.

“You’d think you’d know where you’d be going by now, but sure! You can help me find my way.” Carly’s comment had confused me there. Did she think I’d already come here? I didn’t know, but I knew that I had to go to wherever we needed to be, else we’d both be in serious trouble.

I felt better walking around with Carly, though. She offered me a sense of comfort when I was really, really shitting myself, for lack of a better term. She had that unique, calming feeling from just simple glances or small jokes. I felt safe with Carly, which is what gave me the courage to walk into what seemed like the main hall. With Carly, I didn’t think anything would go wrong today. How wrong I was about that.

When I opened the double doors leading into the main hall, the scene in front of me was not one I was expecting at all. There was probably only around a dozen people, all my age from the looks of things, gathered in small groups, not saying anything to one another. The only people that were alone was a dark-haired girl at the back and a long-haired ginger boy trying to talk to a group of guys, both of which I didn’t recognise at all. Although, one of the small groups consisted of people I went to primary school with. I decided to go up to them first.

“Hey, does anybody know where we have to go?” I asked, looking at everyone else’s equally confused expressions.

“Not a clue,” said Adam, a larger boy who I knew from a few of my classes. He has something to say about anything and everything - especially political things. I try not to get involved in his debates when I can.

“We’ve just turned up here, but nobody’s around. It’s like the school’s deserted,” said AJ. She was obsessed with serial killers and politics, but it did make her very aware of current affairs, I suppose. Though, she looked a lot different from before the summer – she’d lost a lot of weight and her hair was much shorter. Hmm.

“Hey, this may sound weird, but did you just randomly wake up somewhere, too? ‘Cause I think we all have,” Tom asked, a boy who I was very good friends with in my final year of primary school. He was a bit weird, but we still got on well, because, well, who isn’t.

“Yeah, we did…” I trailed off, looking to Carly who was also nodding. Something definitely wasn’t right here, and I wasn’t going to stand around waiting to see what.

I decided to leave my friends from St. Peter’s and move on to the next group of people I saw.

“Hi, does anybody know what’s going on here?” I asked, looking at the people in front of me tentatively.

“Nope, nobody does,” a boy with light-brown hair and a somewhat spotty face said. “I’m Lewis,” he said. He grinned at me, but he had the type of grin that you couldn’t tell whether it was fake or not. I guess he’s more of a joker.

“Craig,” another boy to his right said, putting his hand out to shake with mine, so I took it with a smile. He seemed more polite and friendly than Lewis, but still had a feeling about him…

“Yeah, and I’m Josh,” a more tan, muscular boy said. Looking around, it was hard to believe that these people were the same age as me. But, looking in the mirror, I could hardly believe I was my age.

“I’m Elliott,” the ginger boy said, finding an excuse to worm his way into the circle. “I didn’t go to school with these guys, but eh.” Yeah. He’s…interesting, I thought to myself.

“Oh! And I’m Caroline!” A bubbly dark-haired girl came up to me, not even hesitating to go into a hug. “Sorry, sorry!” she said, backing away, but still smiling. It’s hard to believe that someone this cheerful even exists in this world, but it seemed that Caroline was living proof.

“I’m Tasha.” A girl with long, blonde hair spoke from beside Caroline, putting her hand out to shake mine. These people seemed okay. My first day nerves were slowly dying down as I was talking to more people. Perhaps I should go to the next group…

“Hey, do you want me to introduce you to those people?” Tasha asked, pointing to the last group of people.

“Oh, umm…” I stuttered.

“It’s fine, I went to Stanwick with these lot for years before I moved to Windmill, you’ll like them.” Tasha seemed to have picked up on me staring at them from where I was standing. She seemed very knowledgeable, someone that’d be nice to have as a friend.

“Hi, I’m Izzy,” another blonde girl said when Tasha had led us over to their group. Izzy seemed more reserved than the others, but still friendly.

“Yo, I’m Harry,” a dark-haired boy said, making finger guns at me. He seemed to be a more extraverted type, and was moving on the spot like he couldn’t keep still. He seemed like a person whose brain was always on the go. “And that’s Zach.” Zach was the complete opposite to Harry; he didn’t speak to me, only smiled a little when I looked his way. He definitely wasn’t the social type.

“I’m Lucy,” a girl with dark hair said from next to Izzy. She was definitely reserved, perhaps the shyest person in the room. Although, the remaining loner was yet to be accounted for…

I waved a quick goodbye to the Stanwick group and headed over to the girl on her own. She seemed to be looking anywhere else other than the groups in front of her, but seemed content on her own. “Hi, I’m Erin,” I said as I walked up to her.

“Hi, I’m Angel. But don’t think I need your sympathy or anything,” she said, not holding back the ice in her voice. Well, okay, hello to you, too.

UPUPUPUPUPUPU

A menacing laugh echoed out from the speakers set up in the main hall. Everyone returned to complete silence. Something bad was coming, and the tension in the air proved that we could all feel it.

“Now, don’t waste your time with socialising, it’s time for a greeting from everybody’s favourite headmaster…Monokuma!”

With that, on the stage in front of us, a table was dropped heavily from above, and from the floor of the stage itself came…

A teddy bear?

…

What?!

“That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, your prestigious headmaster has arrived to give you a warm, cosy, cuddly, stuffing-filled welcome into this, Raunds’ Peak Academy!”

The bear was talking. The bear was talking. This is fine. This is normal. There is a stuffed animal talking to me. No biggie.

“Now, don’t stand around looking all confused, didn’t your mothers ever warn you about the wind changing?”

“Wait, you’re saying you’re the head teacher? What is this, some kind of weird welcoming joke to make us feel better?” Adam yelled from the back, moving forwards towards the talking bear.

“No, I’m Monokuma, your rightful headmaster at this school! And you should treat me with a little more respect, Mr. Fernley!” With that, Adam went silent, but the rest of the room was still looking up at this…Monokuma with looks of horror. Something definitely wasn’t right here. 

“Where was I? Oh, yes! I’m here to give you your welcome, and a welcome wouldn’t be complete without gifts!” As Monokuma said that, he pulled out a large, comical hammer and hit a red button in front of him, and boxes fell from the roof onto the floor. They looked like presents, wrapped with bows and everything, but nobody dared move to pick one up.

“Come on now, don’t be shy,” Monokuma said, chuckling a little. “Pick one up!” His high-pitched, bittersweet voice suddenly turned venomous, and at once, all of us went and picked up a present that had out names written on them. I took mine, hands trembling at holding this strange package. I looked around, and most of my classmates were doing the same. We were all terrified, but we didn’t know why.

With a sigh, Angel opened her package first, and from inside it she pulled out a piece of paper and what looked like a tablet. Like she’d broken the tension, the rest of us opened our packages one by one. I looked inside mine and there was the same thing – a piece of paper and a tablet.

“What are we supposed to do with these?” asked Lewis, a little shaky in his voice.

“I don’t have to tell you how to read, do I?” Monokuma said, flashing a grin from one half of his face.

I put the box down on the floor, feeling like it was burning me just from holding it, and took out the piece of paper. Letting out a breath, I unfolded it, and on it read the words “ERIN PAVEY. ULTIMATE LUCKY STUDENT.”

“Ultimate…Goodwill?” Caroline asked, holding her piece of paper in front of her. Everyone else looked equally confused.

“Didn’t you all wonder why the fifteen of you were gathered here? You guys are the Ultimates of your class. Isn’t that amazing?” Monokuma said, fanning himself as if he was…excited by the thought.

“So, what, you’re telling me I’m the best ‘designer’ in my year?” Craig asked.

“Well, of cours-“

“Yeah, fuck you, Josh!” Craig jeered. Okay, maybe some people can handle this better than I can.

“What’s this tablet?” Harry asked, picking it up from the box. He’d already turned it on and was typing away at it frantically without even looking down. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Ahh, yes. The Ultimate Coder. See, you’ve got it all wrong, it’s not a tablet at all. This is your Electronic Student ID Card! Go ahead, turn it on,” Monokuma said. For some reason, everything he said sounded sinister. At least to me it did. Most people seemed to be more relaxed now as they reached into their packages and took out the ID Card. I took mine out and switched it on hesitantly. Instantly, it lit up, reading my name on the front in large letters.

Erin Pavey.

“What does it do?” asked Tasha, not nearly as ready to mess around with it as Harry was.

“Excellent question, Natasha! 10 points to Gryffindor!”

“I’m a Ravenc-“

“Potato, potahto! More importantly, this is the key part of your life as a student. This highlights all of the school rules, and gives you access to certain areas. It also has all of your personal information-“

“Boob size?!” Carly yelled, horrified.

“My favourite feature, yes,” Monokuma giggled. Pervert, much, I thought.

“In the rules here,” Angel said, staring accusingly at Monokuma, “it says something about ‘killing each other’.” Angel laughed nervously at the end, looking around like it was some kind of joke.

“Oh, yes! I was getting to that part! This is the fundamental part of your experience here at Manor School! You see, this is what I like to call your ‘Mutual Killing Game’,” Monokuma said, his grin widening and his red eye glowing brighter.

“K-killing?!” Lucy exclaimed, almost jumping out of her skin at the thought.

“Yes, killing. The act of murder. Slicing, dicing, bludgeoning, strangling, butchering, carving, stab-“

“What do you mean ‘Mutual Killing Game’? This is some kind of twisted joke, isn’t it?” Tom shouted, moving towards Monokuma aggressively, but Adam held him back.

“If I stop getting interrupted, I will gladly explain it to you. You see, the Mutual Killing Game is quite simple. There can only be one winner, and that’s either me, or the blackened.”

“The blackened? What’s that?” I asked, gaining some courage.

“It says here in the rules section that ‘once a person has killed another one, they become blackened’. It also says that ‘if the blackened remains undetected, they may graduate’. What does that mean?” Angel asked, looking directly at Monokuma.

“Another part of the Mutual Killing Game is that nobody is allowed to leave the arena until somebody graduates. That is, you’re all trapped here inside of the school until somebody kills someone else!” Monokuma jumped at that, landing on his table with a heavy thunk. My mind was reeling. We have to kill each other? We can’t do that, we’re just kids! This can’t be real, this can’t be real!

“Bullshit!” Lewis shouted, stomping towards the stage where Monokuma was sitting. “Either you tell us what’s actually happening or you let us go, you fucking freak!”

“Yeah, how do you expect us to believe any of this? Where’s our actual teacher, anyway?” Josh shouted. Everyone was getting angrier and more tense. I knew something bad was going to happen today.

“Like I keep saying,” Monokuma said, still cheery, “I am your head teacher! And your only teacher. You’re the only ones here as you’re the only participants of this Mutual Killing Game. Come on, you guys are supposed to be talented!”

“Well, what if we choose not to kill anyone? We couldn’t do that,” Izzy muttered, hiding behind Caroline at the back of the room.

“Then you can stay here forever! Upupupupupupu!” Monokuma laughed that menacing laugh again. A laugh that instantly sent a horrible chill down my spine.

“Fuck this!” Lewis said, climbing up the steps at the front of the stage. “You think I’m gonna take orders from a fucking teddy bear?!” He reached out his arm and grabbed Monokuma by the throat. His red eye started blinking rapidly and a beeping sound came from his stomach. “Listen here, you fucking tool. Whoever it is controlling you-“

“Lewis, put him down!” Angel yelled. She had a look of genuine panic in her eye, like she cared for him already.

“Nah, this little fucke-“

“Lewis! Now!” Angel shouted with such authority that Lewis snapped out of his rage and threw Monokuma down the side of the stage. Within a moment, he blew up, sending Lewis flying off stage and onto the floor in front of us. A few seconds passed where you could only hear the sizzling from the explosion and Lewis panting. Everyone else was deathly silent.

“How-how did yo-“ Lewis stuttered, shocked.

“In the rules section. It says that if anybody hurts or touched headmaster Monokuma, they will be killed instantly. Jesus, you’re lucky that he didn’t…I don’t know. Fuck,” Angel said, out of breath from her panic. Everyone shared a look of pure terror. This is real. This is happening. What can we even do now?

“Well…he’s-it’s, whatever it is, it’s dead now, right? We can leave?” Elliott said, skulking in from the shadows where he was lurking.

“I guess so…” I mumbled, but none of us made any attempt to go for the door. We were still paralysed from the fear of that explosion. You could still smell the burning wood, stinging my nostrils and reminding me that this was painfully real.

One by one, we slowly turned towards the double doors from where we walked in. We walked over, not daring to look back at the stage where that…thing was. Izzy reached it first, and she touched the door handle. Turning it, she-

“Whoooo!” Came a yelling from back on the stage. I jumped, jolted, and looked back at the stage. It was back.

“Y-you?!” Lucy squealed, jumping to hide behind Caroline.

“Yes, me! Speaking of me, did you miss me? I know I would! Upupupupupupu!” Monokuma laughed, and we all came to the same realisation – this wasn’t going to end.

“But…you blew up,” Tasha mumbled. You could hear any hope she had leaving her voice as she spoke.

“And wasn’t that a blast? Upupupupu! There are millions of me just waiting to pop up wherever and whenever I like. Isn’t technology these days incredible?”

We all felt it. Nobody said anything, but we all knew that it was futile. Everything around us was being tainted by a force that emanated from that one bear. It sapped at our hope until we were left defenceless. Despair. And, there was nothing we could do to change it.

This was a game of trust. A game of trials, tribulations, and impossible tasks. Everything we knew had changed, because now, nobody could be trusted. We were trapped in this school, and we had to kill someone and get away with it if we wanted to leave. Just the thought of it made me feel sick. And, it was all because of Monokuma. Or at least, the person controlling him.

“Aww, don’t be such Debbie Downers! This will be fun, you just need to look on the bright side, okay? Now, don’t let me keep you all too captivated by my beauty, you guys have some work to do! Upupupupupupu!” And, with that, he left, jumping down the same hatch where he came from. A voice came from the other side of the room.

“So…what do we do now?”


	3. A Girl's Life Of Despair

“Okay, so, since we’re all in this together-“ Angel started.

“Nice High School Musical reference, bro,” Harry said. Angel shot him a dirty look before continuing.

“Since we’re now a team, I think it’s only fair that we’re honest and all work together in whatever way we can. Sound fair?” Everyone else nodded and mumbled their agreements. I wondered how Angel could so quickly go into leadership mode, but I guess she seemed to be more of a practical type. “Okay, well, we should probably start by introducing ourselves properly and shit, I mean, this is my first day.”

“Wait, who died and nominated you leader?” Lewis asked, getting defensive.

“Nobody, but unless any of you have a better idea…” Everyone stayed silent at that as Angel looked at every one of us, daring us to say something. “Okay. So, my name’s Angel Douglas, I am apparently the Ultimate Debater, which I guess makes sense, I do argue with people quite a lot. And, obviously, I’m new here.” I didn’t know what to think of Angel; she seemed like she could have a laugh and get along with people, but she was also cold and distanced from people. I didn’t know whether I wanted to get to know her or go running from her.

“Well, no shit, everyone is,” Craig joked lightheartedly.

“What do you me-“ Angel began to ask, a look of confusion on her face.

“Okay, so, my name’s Caroline Matthew, and I was given the title of Ultimate Goodwill. I don’t think I deserve that, because even though I do try my hardest to make other people happy, I’m sure there are other people who deserve that title more than I do, and just beca-“

“Okay, okay. Thank you, Caroline,” Angel interrupted, smiling at her. Caroline definitely appeared like someone I could trust, but should someone that happy really be trusted… “Who’s next?”

“Well, I’m Lewis Smith, and I’m apparently, well, obviously, the Ultimate Halo Player, because I’m just better at video games than all of you. Especially Josh,” Lewis said, flashing that same possibly-sarcastic grin at Josh. Lewis seemed to be appearance based, and I didn’t know if I could trust that about him. He seemed a bit snarkish, so it may just be that he rubbed me up the wrong way. His sarcastic humour could’ve been the reason why I didn’t trust him too much.

“Nah, okay, I’m Josh Clipstone, and for the record, I’m a much better Halo Player than Lewis, just look at my K.D. and you’d know. But, uh, I’m the Ultimate Athlete, so I guess I’m just that much of a gym lad.” A couple of the guys chuckled at that. Oh, God, I thought. They’re gonna be complete laddish dicks, aren’t they?

“All of you can shut the fuck up, because I’ve got the best K.D. on COD by miles, so fuck you. And, I’m Craig Rice, and I’m the Ultimate Designer,” Craig said, shoving Lewis in the side a little. He seemed to be more chilled out than the other ‘lads’, but he appeared to keep up a mask, one that I didn’t know if I could trust to be truthful or not.

“Look, I know you lot have never played me at COD, but my K.D. is actually orgasmic. I’m Zach Martin-Sinclair, and I’m new here, too, funnily enough, and I’m the Ultimate Concealer, whatever that means.” Zach definitely seemed like the type to conceal things, so I didn’t trust him from the get-go. He was too quiet and reserved for my liking, and his Ultimate just added to the fact that he was a secret keeper.

“Anyone else willing to share with the class?” Angel asked after a few seconds of silence. She looked around, and still nobody went to speak. “Okay…how about you, Coder guy?”

“Oh, me, um…” Harry mumbled, looking up from the ID Card that he’d been typing furiously at. “I’m Harry Stanton, and I’m the Ultimate Coder, I guess, because I can code things,” he said absent-mindedly, quickly resuming what he was doing. Harry seemed like a mixture of different stereotypical personalities to me – he was the introverted computer geek, but also the extroverted socialite who could spark up a conversation with anyone. I guessed it depended on what mood he was in.

“What about you, girl at the back?” Angel pointed at Lucy at the back of the room who was still hiding behind other people, trying to avoid her gaze.

“Oh!” she yelped, jumping out of her skin again. “I’m Lucy Irons, and I’m the…I don’t have to tell you, you know. I don’t have to tell you anything!” Angel sighed at that, rolling her eyes. Lucy didn’t seem like the callous type to snap, but she definitely didn’t want her Ultimate being shared. She had something to hide, which made her untrustworthy to me. But, for someone so reserved and shy, maybe it was just because she was nervous?

“Alright, we’re on a roll. Blonde girl with the long hair, what about you?” Angel asked.

“I’m Natasha Blakemore, but you can just call me Tasha, that’s fine. And, I’m the Ultimate Classical Musician, which I guess is because I can play like 5 instruments…”

“Five?!” Elliott yelled. “I can barely play one instrument!”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been doing it since I was younger, and I guess I just…picked it up.” Tasha seemed to be very practical – she didn’t beat around the bush too much with her conversation, and she was without a doubt extremely talented. Though, she still seemed like she was keeping a lot to herself, so I didn’t know what to think of her without getting to know her a bit more.

“Right, see, that’s my point, I got the Ultimate Drummer, but I can barely play, so…” Elliott said, laughing at the end of his sentence. “Oh, and, I’m Elliott O’Hare, and…yeah.” He finished his sentence by laughing again. I figured that he must do that to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable, as he kept shifting on the spot. Although, he seemed like a relatively open book, so I guessed I could trust him more than the quieter, reserved people in the room.

“Okay, so we’re like two-thirds of the way down, good going. What about you, girl with the dark hair, we haven’t heard much from you…like, at all,” Angel mumbled, pointing at AJ.

“Right, of course. Well, I’m Jasmin Major, but please call me AJ, it’s much easier. I’m also the Ultimate Serial Killer Fanatic, pretty self-explanatory, but I’m not that weird about it, I promise,” AJ laughed.

“Bullshit! You basically get off to Jeffery Dahmer!” Tom joked from next to her.

“Well, that’s not strictly true, is it?” AJ said, laughing. AJ, at least from when I knew her, was the type who would really only speak when spoken to. She also had this aura about her that made her seem more knowledgeable than she let on. She’d be a good friend to have, but probably a very dangerous enemy. I decided to befriend her quite quickly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m Tom Lack, sometimes called Wakerlack, but that’s just my gamertag. I’m the Ultimate Pop Culture, which is obvious, ‘cause like, I’ve watched pretty much every film and show there is. And anime. Don’t test me on my anime.” I knew Tom very well from primary school. But, obviously, we’d never been in a situation like this before, so who knew what he’d act like. I figured that I’d have to put all of our previous friendship aside and focus on what aspects of him I really could trust.

“I guess I’ll go, then. The name’s Adam Fernley, and I’m the Ultimate Train Enthusiast. Now, don’t laugh, it’s a very serious hobby to keep up. I could name every stop on every London Underground line, so what else do you need in life.” Yet again, I knew Adam, but I was never too friendly with him. Everyone knew him as one of the smarter ones at St. Peter’s, and he was one for political debates. He kept his views out in the open, so that would make him more trustworthy…right?

“I’ll go next. I’m Carly Palmer, and I already know a couple of you from before, but I’m new here, and I’m the Ultimate Peacekeeper. I guess that means that I don’t like people fighting, which is pretty accurate, I must say.” I could see that for Carly. For as long as I’ve known her, she’s always wanted to help people, and she always has. That did make me more inclined to trust her, but there’s always a dark side to someone, so she couldn’t be lovely to people all the time.

“So, we’ve got the two blondes left, let’s go for the one that isn’t Erin, simply because I don’t know your name.” Angel seemed very quick-witted with these. I didn’t know if I liked that or not.

“Oh, um…I’m Izzy-Isabelle Aubrey, I mean, but you can call me Izzy. It says that I’m the Ultimate Trendster, but I don’t know about that.” Izzy seemed really uncomfortable talking to everyone, which is fine. I’m used to reserved types. Though, something seemed a bit…off with her. Like she had a completely different side to her that she was trying to hide from everyone.

“And that just leaves…Erin,” Angel said, pointing at me.

“Oh, yeah! Hi, I’m Erin, Erin Pavey, and apparently, I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student, but that’s completely wrong, I couldn’t be more unlucky and clumsy and shit.” I was rambling, but it felt nice to break that tension that we had before. Perhaps this would be the last time we’d get to talk like this…no, I couldn’t afford to let myself think like that! Some of these people were my friends…no, they all were my friends. I couldn’t let them not be. Else who knew what would happen.

“Brilliant! See, that wasn’t too bad, and know we all know each other, isn’t that lovely and shit?” Angel sarcastically remarked. “Obviously, the main thing on our agenda is to find some place to escape. I suggest that we split up into small teams to explore different areas of the school and try and find any kind of escape route. Sound good?” Everyone looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Maybe we can make this work, after all.

“Okay, so, I’ll just split you up randomly. So, Josh, Elliott, and Caroline, you three can go and check all of the doors and windows, make sure that there’s no way to get out of them, because I’m assuming they’re all bolted like the ones in here.” I didn’t even notice when I walked in, but all of the windows at the top of the room were all covered in giant metal plates, and the fire escape was bolted, too. We really are trapped here, huh.

“Adam, Tasha, and AJ, I want you three to check out for some food. I assume it’ll be in the canteen or something, but we need to make sure that we have enough to survive.”

“Are you trying to say something?” Adam accused.

“Yes, I’m obviously making a fat joke,” Angel countered sarcastically.

“Fair enough,” Adam said.

“Now, Harry, Lewis, and Tom, you three can go and check phones, computers, anything that can give us access to the outside world and get help. If the bear is right, and we’re completely trapped, then that would’ve all been cut off, but just in case.

“Craig, Carly, and Zach, I want you lot to check the school in general. Get an idea of the layout and what we have or don’t have. We need to know what kind of life we can have here.”

“You know, this is all assuming that the bear is telling the truth and this isn’t one big wind up from the school,” Craig said.

“If it was a wind-up, I don’t think the bear would’ve exploded, do you?” Angel retorted. Everyone went silent at that, remembering the gravity of our situation. “Now, the final three – that’s Izzy, Erin, and Lucy – I want you to check out the bedrooms/dorms, whatever there is. There’s a rule saying we can only sleep in the dorms, so we might as well see where we can sleep. Any questions?”

“Yeah, what about you?” Tasha asked. “You’re giving out all these orders, but you’re not doing anything yourself.”

“Actually, I was gonna float around groups, make sure we get the information together, but if you don’t trust me, that’s fine.” There’s that ice I saw in Angel before. She looked up at the clock before speaking again. “So, it’s half seven now, how about we meet in the canteen at half nine? That gives us two hours to collect our findings.” We all nodded in agreement, and went off in our separate groups.

I was with Izzy and Lucy, so that meant that I had to generate most of the conversation. They weren’t exactly the most outgoing people, but they still seemed okay to work with.

“So…any ideas where the dorms might be?” I asked them.

“Nope,” said Lucy.

“Not a clue,” said Izzy.

Okay, I thought. This is gonna be…interesting.


	4. Beautiful Island

“Did anybody find anything?” Angel asked, slightly annoyed. Nearly everyone had arrived at 9:30, like she said, but Harry, Lewis, and Tom were fifteen minutes late. I shuffled uncomfortably in my chair – it looked like nobody really found anything useful.

“There’s a kitchen at the back of the canteen over there,” Tasha said, pointing behind where everyone was sitting on our table.

“And it’s stocked up with food that could last years, I’m not even exaggerating,” Adam said.

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like that’s gonna run out for a while,” AJ agreed.

“Plus,” Craig added, “there seems to be a warehouse or some kind of storage room, so that could have more food in it.”

“If that’s the room by the girl’s toilets,” Josh said, “then it’s completely locked.”

“Same goes for the whole school. All the doors and windows are completely sealed off,” Caroline mumbled, her usually bubbly spirit becoming more dampened.

“So, we’re fully trapped from the outside world,” Elliott said, surprisingly nonchalantly. I noticed that Elliott never seemed bothered by what was going. I guessed that was more of a defence system so he could hide what he really felt.

“And communications are down, too,” Lewis added.

“Yeah, every phone and computer we checked – and trust me, there was a lot of ‘em – were completely cut off, wouldn’t connect to anything,” Tom said.

“And no matter what I tried, I couldn’t hack the firewalls the mastermind has up,” Harry said, more confident than he was before.

“The mastermind?” I questioned.

“Oh, yeah, it’s just a name I’m using for the person controlling that Monokuma bear,” Harry mumbled.

“So, there’s definitely one person controlling it?” Izzy asked.

“Well, I don’t know how many people there could be, but the Monokuma bear is controlled wirelessly, so there has to be someone behind the scenes who is controlling him,” Harry replied.

“Do you think they’re in the school?” Zach asked.

“I-I couldn’t tell you, honestly. I’d need to get a hold of the wireless receiver Monokuma uses to test the range, but most wireless things are controlled within a few hundred feet, maximum,” Harry stated.

“Well, that’s good, at least we’re getting somewhere,” Angel said. “Has anyone got anything else?”

“From the layout, only this block is open for us to go through, so there’s loads of classrooms, a washing room by the dorms, girls’ and boys’ toilets-“ Carly said.

“Which can only be opened by your ID Card,” Zach added. “So only boys can use the boys’ toilets and girls can use the girls’ toilets.”

“The only things that seem to be blocked off from this block is the science classrooms, music rooms, gym, and the teachers’ offices. The rest is all open,” Carly retorted.

“Except the dorms,” I added. “Every dorm has a specific person allocated to it, and every person has their own key to open it. We found ours in our pockets, I don’t know if you’re the same.” Everyone else apart from myself, Lucy, and Izzy, began patting themselves down to try and find their keys, and one by one, they all found them.

“Yeah, the dorms are pretty safe. They’re actually so safe that they’re soundproof,” Izzy mumbled.

“We tested it by screaming in one of the rooms, and even when Lucy was standing outside of my door, she couldn’t hear anything,” I said.

“Sound-proof, more like murder-proof,” Adam mumbled to himself.

“And, um, there’s a bathroom attached to each bedroom,” Lucy practically whispered.

“Though, in the rules, it says that we can’t use the water at night, doesn’t it?” Tasha enquired.

“Yeah, but there are plenty of water bottles in the kitchen if we need a drink at night or something,” AJ replied.

*DING-DONG, DING-DONG*

The deafening noise played out from the speakers in the canteen, and the monitors lit up all around the room. From the static, a horrible image appeared. One that would never leave my brain.

“Ahem, attention, attention!” Monokuma’s voice rang out. “It is now 10 p.m., which means that it’s now night time. The main hall and all water services will now be cut off until 7 a.m. Goodnight, students! Sweet dreams.” The monitors abruptly switched off, and I returned my attention to the group. 

“So…what do we do now?” Caroline asked. Everyone remained silent for a few moments.

“I guess we should go to sleep, then try to come up with a plan in the morning?” Carly proposed.

“Should we all meet here?” Tasha asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s best,” Carly said.

“Well, I’m knackered, it’s been a long day and all that,” Lewis joked dryly.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go to bed,” Elliott said, rolling his eyes. And, with that, we all got up and made our way down the corridor, through a computer room, through the library, through the staff corridor, and into what is apparently the Maths and English block where our dorm rooms were. Mine was pretty much in the middle of the whole block, which was easy enough to remember. I didn’t hesitate to unlock my door and flop into my bed. 

Lewis was right, it had been a very long day indeed.


End file.
